Canada set for first V Festival

The Flaming Lips are expected to play the inaugural Toronto festival

Toronto is to host the first North American V Festival in September, Virgin boss Richard Branson has said.

The music event, based on the UK's two-centre festival which has taken place since 1996, will feature Gnarls Barkley and The Flaming Lips.

There are also plans to stage a US concert in Baltimore later this year, along with two more Canadian cities and three as yet unannounced countries.

Around 50,000 music fans are expected to attend the Toronto festival.

The first event, to be held on 9-10 September in the city's Island Park, will not allow revellers to camp on the site.

Provisions are expected to be made for the second festival in 2007.

Sold out

Sir Richard, who announced the news after being lowered onto a restaurant patio in the city's waterfront by helicopter, said: "It's the biggest sort of social event on the calendar for a particular age group in the UK.

"There's a lot of very, very, very big bands," he added.

A number of Canadian acts are already lined up to play, including The Hidden Cameras and The Dears.

Vancouver and Montreal are the other Canadian cities being considered to host events.

In the UK, 150,000 tickets for August's V Festival sold out within three hours, breaking previous records.

Radiohead, Morrissey and Fatboy Slim are among the acts performing in Hylands Park, Essex, and Weston Park in Staffordshire.